Canada’s electoral map is going to change

Every 10 years, Canada’s electoral boundaries are reviewed and redrawn to account for movement and growth in the population. That time has come.

Ten independent commissions have been established to propose new electoral boundaries to better reflect population shifts and growth in each of the 10 provinces.

As Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon constitute one electoral district each, they don’t require federal electoral boundaries commissions.

The Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for British Columbia is dedicated to ensuring that the new electoral boundaries are fair to the people of the province. The Commission will draft a proposal of the new boundaries while taking into consideration various factors, such as population figures, communities of identity or interest, historical patterns, and geographical factors.

Your electoral district, Skeena-Bulkley Valley, which is where you live and vote for your member of Parliament, may be altered as a result of the redistribution process.

After the Commission has drafted its proposal, the new electoral map is published and members of the public are invited to comment and make their own suggestions. Public hearings are held, and everyone is invited to attend and provide input.

After the views from the public are considered, the Commission will submit a report to the House of Commons, where members of Parliament will provide feedback that will then be reviewed by a parliamentary committee.

The Commission will consider the feedback from members of Parliament and decide whether to make any final changes to its report, which is then submitted to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada for preparation of a document called a “representation order”. This final step allows the new electoral map of Canada to be officially implemented.

The new map will be used at the first general election called at least seven months after the representation order becomes law – likely the 2015 general election.

If you’d like to provide your comments to the members of the British Columbia Commission while they are developing their initial proposal, you are invited to contact them by e-mail (bc-cb@rfed-rcf.ca) or mail by April 20, 2012.